Biography

Jimmy 'The Greek' Snyder was born on September 9, 1918 in Steubenville, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for The Cannonball Run (1981), ABC's Wide World of Sports (1961) and Sammy and Company (1975). He died on April 21, 1996 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

On the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in 1988, The Greek gave an interview where he alternately stated that African-American athletes were elite because they had been bred to be by slaveholders, and said that black athletes were dominating sports to the point that there was little left for white athletes. Shortly afterwards, CBS fired him from the job he'd held for 12 years as a commentator on "The NFL Today". He was unable to find new TV work for the rest of his life.

Was one of the first to discuss football betting odds and spreads on TV, as part of the popular Brent Mussberger pregame/post-game crew. One of a few public persons to be banished in the 80s for racial comments.

He died in 1996.